Geek favorites Bryan Fuller and Bryan Singer have been forthcoming about their hopes for bringing Star Trekback to the small screen, after the release of J.J. Abrams’ elusive sequel to his Trek movie reboot next summer. However, it turns out those two aren’t the only ones with big dreams about a new TV series set in that sci-fi universe – Michael Dorn is also taking steps to reprise his signature Trek role on a spinoff, tentatively titled Star Trek: Captain Worf.

Worf, Son of Mogh, of course, is the first Klingon main character on a Star Trek TV series. He appeared on The Next Generation throughout its seven-season run, then became a Deep Space Nine regular for its last four seasons. Dorn portrayed Worf in all four Next Generation films; in addition, he played Worf’s grandfather, Colonel Worf, in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Rumors and reports about a prospective Worf spinoff began circulating earlier this year – which, perhaps not-so-coincidentally, marks the 25th anniversary of The Next Generation. Trek News caught up with recently with Dorn, who gave them the following exclusive “scoop” on the project:

“I had come up with the idea because I love [Worf] and I think he’s a character that hasn’t been fully developed and hasn’t been fully realized. Once I started thinking about it, it became obvious to me that I wanted to at least put it out there, which I have, and the response has been pretty amazing. We’ve been contacted by different individuals–I can’t say who and all that–about wanting to come on board and be part of this. “

Deep Space Nine concluded with Worf being made Federation ambassador to the Klingon homeworld, Qo’noS. An official prequel comic book to Abrams’ Trek reboot featured Worf as a Klingon Empire General, who battles the Romulan Captain Nero (Eric Bana, in Abrams’ film). Worf sustained life-threatening injuries during the encounter, but it was indicated he was still alive by the story’s conclusion.

However, the overlap between events on DS9 and the Star Trek film continuity has always been kind of fuzzy; hence, it stands to reason that could also hold true for a Worf spinoff and the post-reboot movies. Dorn’s in the same boat of uncertainty as Fuller and Singer, when it comes to how his plans are affected by Abrams’ films – as he put it, “there’s all the political stuff going on with the new movies with J.J. Abrams and Paramount and all that stuff, which I have no clue about and what it all entails, but that’s where it is right now.”

The in-progress subtitle Captain Worf is open to interpretation, as far as indications for when, exactly, the TV series could take place. Such a Star Trek spinoff would, for certain, retain the ensemble format of its predecessors to some degree – with a focus on the adventures of Worf and a new group of space explorers. Morever, Dorn says the show isn’t so much a pipe dream as one might think (at first):

“Interestingly enough it has gotten traction. I was very surprised, I was on a movie not too long ago, where one of the producers was basically lobbying to be part of it. He was like “Michael, I’d love to write it, if you haven’t.” So at this point, my agents and my manager are looking at all the avenues and trying to figure out which is the best one. My agent and manager have been in the business for awhile, so they’re very savvy about where to start and how to get it going. Like I said, in this business you never know and I’ve been through pitching things and I never want to do that again [laughs]. It’s pretty brutal, but definitely I think once again, if Paramount or CBS or anybody thinks this is a viable thing, they’ll jump on it.”

Worf’s Klingon manner and instincts often put him at odds with his fellow officers on The Next Generation, as hilariously highlighted in this 15-minute compilation video; still, there were a few episodes on DS9 that explored Worf’s personal sense of duty and honor beyond the surface level. Nonetheless, there does remain room for further development of the character – even given the substantial amount of backstory already in place for Worf.

However, as Dorn mentions above, the Star Trek: Captain Worf television series is far from getting an official greenlight right now. Nevertheless, we will keep you up-to-date on the situation as more information is released (or Dorn continues to talk about it).

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ReVeLaTeD2 years ago

Episode 1: “Conflicted”

Worf, after taking command of his new vessel, runs into rough times when all of his past ‘conquests’ demand that he choose one and stick with them loyally, instead of letting them die in pointless plot twists.

If you’ve ever watched DS9 you’d know that Ezri and Jadzia can’t be on the same screen unless you are doing a flashback. Jadzia dies in the 6th season I believe, and Ezri took up the symbiote thereafter…

Unless you’re dealing with an alternate timeline, which is a very likely thing from the stories created in both JJ Abrams film and what took place back in Star Trek: First Contact, which lead to the altered look of the first Enterprise and Captain Archer. In the original timeline (created by Roddenberry 1965) never shows nor mentions Vulcan being destroyed as it was seen in JJ Abrams film, so everything from that point on becomes effected by those events, including the possibility of certain characters having a different life, like Worf.

This could be Captain Worf of the Klingon Empire, NOT the Federation.

THAT would be an AWESOME concept for a show, and be more of a adventure/action/SF than just simple space exploration.

Wow this analysis is so far off from Star Trek the real deal, it isn’t even funny.After struggling though 2 mediocre seasons TNG only manages to pick up the pace with season 3,DS9 was clearly the best once the stories moved away from the boring bridge crew and concentrated on alien intrigue. Voyager was so up and down even Seven of Nine couldn’t save it(plus it violated it’s own basic premise and wallowed in formula)J.J Abrams new spin on the original cast is laughably bad and it’s followers are single handedly destroying ST for the rest of us as we speak.I want Abrams far away from any future ST. Worf not withstanding why can’t we have ST adventures that have nothing to do with Star Fleet and still happen in the same universe without the huge casts that burden the concept time and again?

I am old enough to remember getting annoyed at watching, yet again, “The Trouble With Tribles” IN THE EARLY 70’S! Star Trek’s time has come and gone and come and gone and I say, thank god for Abrams and HIS TAKE on a botoxed, tired series that is so far from the modern zeitgeist that it is laughable when I read comments such as yours bemoaning the crumbling purity of a series which now is like watching slow death. Ironically, the only series I can stand are those from the 60’s. They stand the test of time; all the rest are terribly dated. So, if Abrams isn’t helming the next feature then I am not interested and you and your fellow trekkies can then bemoan the lack of interest of anyone else caring a whit about this franchise.

I completely agree with everything. Star Trek was meant to be a hopeful glimpse and inspiration for humanity to better itself and to give us strength during the hardships of modern society. Not some crappy space-sex drama that Enterprise and the JJ Abrahms movies are.

Star Trek was made to make you think, which I have seen NONE of on tv in a very very VERY long time.

Frankly, JJ Abrahms has made it clear he can’t bring a story arc from start to finish without running out of ideas, or getting high, or whatever his issue is, with his Xfiles-meets-Outer-Limits series Fringe.

If you want pointless action and non-sensical slop, Disney will have a dozen trashy Star Wars spinoffs in your lap within 2 years.

I think the word you’re looking for is to inspire, which is what Star Trek used to do. JJ Abrams effectively took away the science, the mystery and the sense of discovery of the unknown that inspired an entire generation of nerds, geeks and science enthusiasts. All of a sudden, science became something cool as opposed to today where science has become boring.

Abrams essentially turned what was supposed to be science fiction into action/adventure in space. Sadly, most people seem to prefer that.

Face it. True science fiction is gone. And along with it, people’s faith and inspiration for science.

J.J. Abrams’ productions are vapid, hollow trash. He attracts and appeals to the lowest common denominator. If you like J.J. Abrams and his productions, and think he is a talented director doing good things for Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek creation, you are part of that lowest common denominator he appeals to.

Followers of Abrams’ work are not likely even to know who Roddenberry was, much less understand or appreciate what he was attempting to accomplish with the original Star Trek and The Next Generation. Subsequent series’, under the stewardship of those close to Roddenberry and with creative infusion from people of actual talent like Ira Steven Behr, carried this vision forward after Roddenberry’s death.

J.J. Abrams, in contrast, directed a mediocre action movie with mediocre acting and sub-mediocre writing, totally and utterly failing to correspond with the original meaning and intent of Star Trek as it was put forth by Gene Roddenberry. This mediocrity is owed to the insipid mediocrity of J.J. Abrams.

TNG took two entire seasons to find its groove then lost it a season later. Eventually nearly every episode had an “alien-of-the-week” or a “disease-of-the-week” that took over the Enterprise, and by the end of the episode some technobabble was responsible for solving the problem. It’s a product of its time and the fact they didn’t feel they could do anything different than the original series.

DS9 was the best of the entire series. It was episodic like TNG, but the seasons themselves contained a plot arc. The show has a continuous story from beginning to end. It accomplished what the former series didn’t and actually explored alien cultures. You got to know a lot about the Bajorans and far more about the Klingons than from any other source. The character interaction in the show was by far the best, especially the quirky friendship between Garak and Dr. Bashir.

Voyager was complete garbage and suffered from the “alien-of-the-week” disease TNG did. The only non-wooden character of the entire show was Tuvok, and he’s supposed to be a wooden character! The only improvement it had over TNG was that they managed to inject some sort of action into the series, but the horrible character development made watching those meaningless.

Enterprise never found its groove, and the whole Xindi thing was weird and rather awful. The best parts about the show are rather overlooked. It had a nice cast, but a couple of the characters, Mayweather and Sato, were mostly ignored — especially Mayweather. I especially liked Dr. Phlox. The show had a different feel to the others in that they were true pioneers. They were flying in a ship that wasn’t the flagship of a huge and powerful federation. They were going by the seat of their pants and because of that got into a lot of situations that didn’t involve the “alien-of-the-week” garbage of previous series. Perhaps the best part of the show was the overall development of the Vulcans. The show showed us the Vulcans probably gained more from their cooperation with us than we did from them.

I personally enjoyed J.J. Abrams film, but I think it should be kept separate just as it was designed to be in the first place. It’s more action-oriented than Star Trek traditionally has been, but as long as the other stuff exists I can accept it. There shouldn’t be a TV show based on it, and there shouldn’t be a TV show about “Captain Worf”.

I personally would like to see a new Star Trek TV show that throws everything out that happened before while being set in the same world and being mindful of canon like what was done with Doctor Who. It’d be nice to see what they could do with the production and writing quality found in many modern TV shows.

I think TNG deserves more credit than that. The 24th Century that Roddenberry created was bold, imaginative and fresh . No one now has that imagination as most future scifi plays like an army recruitment video.

In look and vision TNG clearly expanded Star Trek . Sadly in translation the First Season did not work. As with The Motion Picture, Roddenberry’s TNG plots, scripts and characterisations couldn’t live up to the grand Trek he’d envisioned.

TNG’s 2nd season was an improvement but I think suffered from behind the scenes turmoil . The third Season was a revelation ( perhaps Roddenberry was out? ) The show shifted stylistically – scifi had never looked like this before – darker sets , muted lighting . The quality of scripts, acting and characterisation had increased dramatically . No other scifi series I can remember had dared to finish with a cliffhanger – so common place now.

The fourth season continued with this high quality and introduced new continuing races ( Cardassians and Trill ) and well respected guest stars .

The fifth season was a dip in quality. I always suspected paramount wanted to attract a broader audience hence repeated episodes centering on children / younger cast members. Ironically the Wesley Crusher episodes turned out to be some of the strongest of that season

Season Six started badly but for me it returned to high quality television with strong story arc ‘chain of command ‘ and memorable episodes like ‘tapestry’

Season Seven was a disappointment. Understandably they wanted to tie-up loose ends . It was also the first season to be produced by Brannon Braga who came to put his ‘mark’ on Voyager and Enterprise ( thankfully not DS9 ) the season was saved by the flawless ‘All Good Things’

In the end TNG was an always intriguing series that evolved into a TV classic.

Overall I prefer DS9 to TNG and I think seasons 4 – 6 are probably the best epic scifi produced on TV. A series that can be as personal as ‘The Visitor’ or as epic as ‘Sacrifice of Angels’ and feature sooo many excellent supporting characters is something special.

Voyager featured the best pilot and potential of any trek series. Unfortunately the producers couldn’t transfer the pilot’s strengths into a weekly format for some unknown reason. By the fourth season they were forced to pander to the lowest common denominator – cleavage.

Enterprise was a series too far. I’m always wary of attempts to capture past glories. Its like watching regurgitated food . If the original series represented the 60’s then curiously Enterprise represented the 50’s where the good captain was like a ‘Rocky Ranger’ complete with postering and swagger where his co-horts would rub themselves down in the decontamination booth in some Betty Page moment. A high point for trek – not

I think fourth season producer Manny Coto tried to steer the series back on track but there’s only so much you can do with Captain Swagger and that Brannon Braga stiff finger finale ‘these are the voyages ‘ is best filed away and forgotten.

As for the future – well the jj-abrams parallel universe Trek continues to flourish and if its box office boffo then the pure-adrenaline Trek will continue and reboot and regurgitate in an endless loop.

I so agree with everything that this person said except for the part where it was said that Voyager was complete garbage. It had its moments but it was one Star Trek show where it was not suppose to go anywhere. They got home and we were not supposed to know if it was the future or the present. I do believe that DS9 though brought it to light that Voyager was found or they knew of Voyager where it was at and could not get to it but I digress. The main thing is that they should not bring Worf into the new remakes. I know that they are thinking he should be apart of the Klingon attack with the Romulan Nero but if Kirk is there Worf would not even have been thought of yet. That would not be believable by any means. Keep going from the stand point that he was the Klingon ambassador and there was some sort of destruction of the klingon home world (If you can do that to the Volcan home world you can do that with any one’s as long as it has happened in the past, why can’t you do it in the future) and the federation has teamed up with the only surviving Klingons to salvage the rest of thier pridefull and courageous civilization they have left……. or just say he got bored with all the politics and decided to go back to starfleet under the condition they made him a captian…. Worf was never one to sit still to long and he really did not see himself as a political figurehead. Keep going with the older stuff it will catch the attention of new treckers and keep the people who have been trekies for year intrigued and not scratching there heads going wtf are they pulling now!!!

I would love to see a new Star Trek tv series,maybe somewhere between TOS and TNG. I want the Klingons to be the bad guys again, I want to see the GORN….LOTS and LOTS of GORN, and I also want The Tholians. It’s a shame that we only got to see those two alien races in the final episodes of Enterprise in the Alternate Universe. I would love to see them as a common enemy aligned with the Klingons or the Romulans….or both. Please….Make it so!!

Let Jar Jar Abrams do the TV show? Are you out of your Vulcan mind? He has ruined Trek. he doesn’t follow any of the history of Trek (please see Kirk born in Iowa NOT space, or each ship having its own shield on its tunic not the one used by NCC 1701 or the fact that Kirk NEVER attended the academy with Spock or Chekov). Yeah I believe that while this would be awesome for the correct canon, Jar Jar SHOULD NOT have ANY input in it whatsoever!!!

I don’t know HOW Abrams “ruin” Trek when all he did and (lets not forget Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtman) who wrote not only the movie but had some input in and these are the guys who wrote Cowboys & Aliens and the first 2 Transformers movies; besides which the current Trek movie IS an alternative timeline..which is a fact most people seem to forget much too often lately

You need a long talking to, and I don’t have the time right now. Suffice to say, all the things you noticed that didn’t make any sense and were contrary, actually make sense just fine in this new reality. Every detail you complain of is covered rather nicely, if not all that clearly, by the new story. One quick example: we see that the ship of Jim Kirk’s father uses the delta we associate with the Enterprise crew. This heroic death, in the spirit of great leadership and self sacrificing nobility, not only makes the delta symbol famous, but leads to its broad adoption (something not explained in either universes, but plausibly implied and intended now), and also leads to the formation of the shipyards in Kirk’s OrIGINAL place of birth. Instead of him being born there, the ship effectively is.

To go farther I’d have to get into the modern theory of parallel universes that the writers were employing. This involves a theory of similarities between alternates, and convincingly posits that more stays the same, essentially. The years are different, and it’s Pike, not his father who draws him to Starfleet where he would of course meet the same contemporaries, who, being the best of the best end up on the flagship… Etc. This is almost like reverse entropy! The nature of all things is to fall into disorder, but this clever theory has a point, and is integral to the thought process that drove the story. So these were not forgotten details, or lazy writers who didn’t care or didn’t bother. They did pretty solid work, actually. But that doesn’t mean you have to like it, so don’t worry. Also, in case you missed it, Trek was in a terrible place before the reboot. Everyone seemed to be tired of it, from fans to the general public. The films of Picard had finally hit such a terribly unprofitable all time low that another one seemed out of the question. Enterprise had finally become the series it needed to be,four years too late, and delivered an amazing final season (mostly), before it was cancelled early. No movie prospects, no series prospects, no interest from the public and a general feeling of franchise fatigue. It was a scary time for Trekkies. Like it or not, the reason we are building momentum instead of layers of dust is because Abrams made people care again. Even if you hate him and his work, Trekkies owe him for making trek thrive when it was in dire straits. Whatever great stuff we get next would not exist without the interest he has drawn back to the franchise.

That being said, he sure has had his name on some terrible television. Lost had its moments and redeeming elements, but the only other memorable effort was Fringe, which is a textbook case of what happens when nobody cares enough to make a show good. I bet his culpability is merely his abscense, since I can’t believe anyone with talent was on quality control. It had promise and it’s own lore, despite being a blatant x files ripoff, but it devolved into laziness and insultingly poor stories. Whatever he did or didn’t do in the last few years, it sucked.

Actually, i thought, in terms of writing and scope, that ST:DS9 was better than ST: TNG. The magnitude of its politics on a planetary scale, affected worlds, and its people…and the people who served aboard DS9..and the show explored how it affected the relationships because of the politics of those situations. TNG really didnt show explore this level as much. I loved both shows. But DS9 really had such a greater depth. I really didnt understand and appreciate the show back when it originally aired, as i do now, as i watched most of the seasons on Netflix recently. I thought that Avery Brooks and NAna Visitor especially, did such wonderful jobs in their roles. All of the cast were great. I loved Major Kira. Nana Visitor breathed so much passion, strength and conviction into the character. I have never seen any other actor do that on any other Star Trek show so consistently with any other character, except for a few episodes here and there with other actors.

I disagree and I want to go on record as a Trek fan who thinks that JJ Abrams should never touch anything named “Star Trek”again. I think he has really butchered the story in almost every way possible.I find his “reboots” unwatchable. Star Trek in its various evolutions is about speculative fiction–the challenges of the effects of new technologies and new philosophies on the human race as it develops, as told through the experiences and eyes of the Star Trek characters. Trek is bad when it devolves into the same “lets blows some things up” mentality that makes Star Wars fare for 12 year olds. I like Michael Dorn and Whorf, but not enough to watch a weekly series based on the character. If you want a great idea for a series, lets go even farther back in time than Enterprise. A Vulcan we learned fell in love with Earth from an accidental crash by a science vessel. He elected not to be rescued and returned to Vulcan. This individual presuming he had about 150 years left of his life span, could tell the story of Earth through alien eyes from 1958 to 2102, which encompasses our “now” through WWIII. I would watch something like that.

Good God! PLEASE do not let Abrams touch this series! He wouldn’t know “Star Trek” if it came up and nerve-pinched him!! The man even admits to not being a Star Trek at any given time and he would just go and try to change Worf in an Orion-in-disguise or some such idiotic nonsense. Please! I implore Michael Dorn, Brannon Braga or anyone else in charge at Paramount: DO NOT let Abrams on the lot, let alone the set or in the script writers’ room at any point duing the production of this series if it should ever be made.

Well, the powers that be that wanted to kill his character and burn the evidence he existed have left the franchise, so who knows? But it’s still pretty safe to say that a return of a “retired” captain, (one who is in this case partying with the Gods of Bajorans in the Wormhole) will not occur lightly or without a seriously concerted effort. I love the idea. He and Worf together is so damn cool. Unlike any duo in star trek.

A Captain Worf television series would be a continuing development of Michael Dorn’s character if the right scripts came along to see the point of view of Federation conflicts from the Klingon home world. This would be a side by side comparison how the Federation and Klingons solve their differences.

This could work for an episode, or even a recurring idea like DS9’s other universe eps, but a series based on Klingons or even set on an old fashioned Klingon ship will not work and will not appeal. They are an ingredient best used to bring out other flavors. How many hours and years of growling, head butting and arguing about honor can anyone take? It’s just not a realistic choice for a compelling series. He needs to have an eclectic crew, and a brightly illuminated, high tech bridge. No murky yellow rust caverns full of warriors with outlandish hairdos. Although a periscope chair would be sweet…

uh? wha? Captain Worf of the wha? Doesnt ANYONE ANYWHERE have ANY new ideas ANYMORE? i like Worf and i think Michael Dorn is a great actor – but is this the best we could do ?

They say the universe is 13.7 billion years old and will expand indefinitely – but according to Star Trek wish-fulfillers, the universe stops in the 24th century and time starts to roll backwards as producers desperately try to capture any ‘bad-ass’ hero who can either blow up a planet, cock an eyebrow, snarl, make a space-related quip or chase a space hottie ..

speaking of points .. Episode 3 of ‘Star Trek: Captain Worf’ Our good captain impales the starfleet traitor with a handy prop and turns to his young lieutenant with that familiar smile and glared look ‘I THINK ive made my point’

I met Michael Dorn in November 2012 at a Trek convention and chatted with him for a good while. He said he had no intention of reprising his charactor as Worf. I asked him how much money would it take for him to get back into all of that makeup again and he said he’d do it for like a million dollars an episode. He didn’t even want to join Deep Space Nine, he was so tired of 5 hours of makeup every day, but they offered him so much money he signed back on to do it again. So unless Abrams and company have that type of money in their budget to pay him, I don’t see it happening.

In DS9 Season 6 episode 16, “Change of Hear”, Worf turns back on his duty to meet a Cardassian informant in the jungles of the badlands planet Soukara. He does this to tend to his critically injured wife, Jadzia Dax. Captain Sisko places a formal reprimand on Worf’s record, and while acknowledging that he’d probably have done the same thing in Worf’s position, Sisko says in fairly unequivocal terms that the blemish on Worf’s record probably means he’ll never receive his own command.

Although Sisko said “probably”, thus leaving the possibility open, it would be absolutely fantastic if the new series made a canonical nod to this event, explaining how it was that Worf overcame this mark on his record to earn his own commission. Seeing as how Abrams threw canon out the window and then glossed over his disrespect with the tired old “alternate timeline” routine, it would be nice to see some continuity in the Star Trek universe again. $0.02.

In the most recent novel trilogy, set about 4 years after Nemesis, Picard informs Worf (who is 1st Officer) that he’s on a short-list for the next ’round of promotions. Worf talks about the incident with Jadzia and Picard basically says that the way he’s comported himself since and serving as an Ambassador etc have more than made up for that.

Could be they’re building up for this, plus, it implies that if they do do this, they would respect the continuity of the Pocket Books which would be great.

That’s what makes the books nice, time to build continuity and thoroughly cohesive stories. That is also where the movies often fail most miserably! It is, I am sorry to say, rather ridiculous to suppose that the book with that cool detail in it was created with a deeply non-existent tv series in mind, or that if the show ever exists we now have reason to believe that they will handle it with these details. We can hope for at least a comment on this, or better yet, as Ryan said, a piece of story that discusses or shows us the path towards command for Worf. Most likely would be no mention of this Sisko comment whatsoever, and the next most likely would be that it is all rewritten in a line of dialogue to appease fans, and then forgotten permanently. I had the same thought about that ds9 ep when they said “captain Worf” was the series, but my immediate realization was that some old line of dialogue would NEVER impede the prospect of a viable, profitable series for a second. It’s like when people bring up his ambassador job as though it matters at all. That was established in about one second of dialogue at the end f the series, and we never saw him sense. For all we know, he never even took the position and things changed. They can tell us that in one sentence, or more likely, either start the series with him as ambassador, possibly in flashback, or just briefly tell us that he left the job, probably because it didn’t suit him. Nobody wants to WATCH him be a political delegate, so that was just a place to park him indefinitley. By the way Ryan, to “fairly unequivocally say probably” is like saying that you absolutely may definitely of course do or not do a thing…maybe. Which is to say, you answered your own question. It was just an idea that he might not ever get his own command. Cool idea, well written, and so very easily unwritten by anybody that wants him to be captain.

o.O question how do you figure that books aren’t “canon”? all the books I’ve read and I’ve read many coincide with an episode of that series or expand upon story NOT seen on screen. So you are saying anything NOT seen on tv is non-canon? Granted there are a few Star Trek books that contradicts itself but all the same ..unless Paramount has come out and said that Pocket Books Star Trek stories are “non-canon”

one thing to consider is : have any of the tv series ever been influenced by books? i dont recall whereas books have obviously been influenced by events on TV. Although books may be entertaining and expand on themes – the TV series ( and films )carry considerably more weight.

Take a look at “Body of Proof” series. 7 of 9 is aging and scoring more like a 5 out of 9 these days.

If they want to do this – then do a Klingon show. Or at least a Klingon ship as an experimental attachment to Star Fleet. But yet another overly politically correct Star Fleet ship where everything gets tied up in a warm and fuzzy bow every 60 minutes is boring, done to death, and not what anyone wants to see re-heated every few years.

Where to begin? Of course the “original” fans were for the original show, and of course a new show would “either have to be about Kirk and crew OR another crew”… You do know there were six profittable trek shows, each with fans, many who overlap, right? There are loads and loads of TNG fans out there, more than for any other show, so yes people still care about those characters. Your idea that Voyager is the place to find the future of trek is just bizarre. That was never going to happen, or it would have already. As for being a big fan of the big breasted blonde in the cat suit, well I guess that makes you about as sophisticated a watcher as they were aiming for when they invented her. The strengths of trek seem to elude you at every turn. Good news though, there will always be hot women in sci fi. It’s kinda the lowest common denominator. Try to raise yer standards a bit, eh? Trek has enough problems without an undiscerning audience.

Grab yourself a beer and relax. The last part of my comment re 7 of 9 was of course tongue in cheek.

Next gen had a fan base but not so much now. The characters were good for tv but not good enough for movies which is why most of their films sucked. First Contact being the exception but that was because the Borg are such great characters, not because the crew are that engaging.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy, the dynamic was created to have tension. In Next Gen they all just got along, boring.

That’s one of the prospects I like best. For once, having the Captain kicking alien ass makes great sense. Having Kira easily beat up Klingons, Cardies and Jem Hadar was stupid. Putting Picard in galaxy-saving fist fights was like giving Yoda a light saber. Letting Worf lead AND fight is a natural fit, and I like it.

seriously – could a Captain worf series really last more than 8 or 9 episodes ? You’d have a great pilot – but to keep costs down you would have to tone things down . i foresee a ‘game of thrones’ scenario – but that wont work with Worf stuck on a starship . Worf isnt subtle and you know exactly how he will respond so out goes political intrigue, or even alien of the week.

Plus most, if not all space-based scifi focuses on an ensemble rather than an individual ( for good reason ) the only ones i can think of is buck rogers and flash gordon – but they were generic fish out of water characters who contrasted against exotic backgrounds. Worf is an exotic character who contrasts against ….. what exactly. Yes he is caught between two worlds but will that keep you interested for more than 3 consecutive episodes ?

The only thing i can think that will sustain a 20 episode run is if something bad happens to federation and Worf is forced make alliances … but is that really star trek?

does anyone have any serious ideas on how a worf series could survive 20 odd episodes ?

Yes, I have a lot of ideas that make sense for a Worf show. It is possible to create a very new show with just the right pieces of what we already love. It has to be ensemble, and as you say, cannot focus on an old storyline like Worf feeling caught between two worlds. This must begin with Worf taking a position of aggression and clarity, not self doubt and uncertainty. We must feel invigorated by his bold sense of purpose, and enthralled by the way his challenge-seeking personality will thrive on the show’s daunting premise… The possible cast is especiially crucial, and raises many exciting possibilities from several shows. How about letting Voyagers EMH join up as crew member/infiltrator/holographic commando? Huge possibilities there. Who from DS9 could join? How about Martok and Garak? Kurn may return, but it can’t be a Klingon series. It would be too dull and one dimensional. Same with their ships. We need a very different Klingon ship, or better yet a new federation or other species ship that is small and unique and aesthetically fascinating. As for their exciting new mission that sets the series apart from all the others…. Well, if anybody is still reading and cares, just click on my name and leave a note on my site and I’d be happy to discuss it with you. Probably won’t come looking here though, because the thread is old and so nobody is reading it but me!

The time is ripe for a Star Trek TV show reboot. The fact of the matter is that Star Trek Enterprise only failed (in my opinion) because it represented the past, and as a dedicated ST fan, I absolutely hated to watch all these major events in the past of which perhaps only a handful were even known in the future (the real Star Trek universe). It made no sense to do a “prequel” show. Also, Worf was a very interesting character (as proven in DS9) – it could definitely be a good show. I hope it will be a somewhat continuous story – like Voyager and DS9 – but not so much like in Enterprise, where once you missed two or three episodes, you were basically out. Also, I’m not digging the title: “Star Trek: Captain Worf” sounds too cheesy. Maybe just “Star Trek: Captains” – with the focus on Worf. I hope this really happens.

er …. but surely star trek : captains would mean there would be LESS focus on worf ?? HOWEVER there was a tv series called name of the game which rotated stories between 3 main characters – now that would be interesing . Would it work ? i dont know – 3 diverse story arcs – you have your kickass adventures with worf .. exploration/sci fi stories with another captain .. and then maybe political intrigue / personal stories with ..say a disgraced captain. Establish all three captains first and then start your crossovers stories – that should last two seasons at least !!

that sounds something similar to the series of books title Captain Log where Pocket Books publish story about all the captain that have been portrait i believe before they became captain or sometime AFTER they became captain of their own ships..Captain Sulu, Captain Picard, Sisko, Kirk etc.

was it called captains table ? i was thinking more of the same timeline and new characters ( leave the old soldiers alone ! ) id rather a new series set a hundred or so years after 24th century but if everyones creatively trapped in the 24th then maybe a captain’s table with 3 diverging new ( oh ok 2 new .. plus worf ) captains

You either saw very little ENT or you just don’t follow trek much. Firstly it spent two loooooong seasons telling virtually unconnected one-off stories, whose marginal relevance and lack of compelling purpose (I feel) lost their audience. They had plenty of milestones to work with and era-specific continuity to play with, but few of the stories felt really important. It wasn’t bad tv, or even bad trek, but it lacked a crucial spark. The third season swung wildly in the other direction with a season long story arc and many creative new ideas that made the series much more interesting. The show had focus and purpose, a broader secondary cast (reminiscent of ds9) that mattered, much stronger writing in general, and a lot of great performances. The controversial addition of the Maco team was one brilliantly effective new idea, and the Xindi species had many fascinating ideas and uniquely compelling characters. Then season four brought exactly the opposite of what you said.

The last season took some very important yet murky trek history and made it spectacularly engaging and relevant and fun. Some great novelists joined the writing team while Berman and Braga took another big healthy step away from the franchise. Finally got to see disparate races coming together in what would someday lead to the Fedation charter. Vulcans became vastly more complicated and interesting while we delved deeper into their myths than ever before. Andorrans and Tellarites were never far away, and tensions with the Klingons deepened and Romulans prepared to wage war on Earthlings. Most of all, it was one of the most consistently entertaining, well written, well produced, best acted, most relevant and exciting seasons of trek ever. A clear contender for best season of trek ever, despite starting and ending weakly. If you disagree strongly it’s probably because you don’t know better or you just hate the show. Fair enough, but sad.

As for the title Captain Worf, I doubt anyone anywhere EVER believed that this would become the name of a show. It’s a placeholder if ever there was one, and it has the clear value of instantly differentiating the project from any other project. As in “I can’t wait for new star trek!”. “You mean the new movie, or that Tuvok thing on the Internet?” “I mean ‘Captain Worf’!” “that’s a dumb name.” Sigh.

And “Star Trek: Captains” ? May as well be “ST:Spaceships.”. Fine idea, but absolutely lifeless and uninspiring title for a show. Needs work, let’s say. Must be compelling, not just serviceable as a label. ENT had that going too.

no , hes talking about some of the male extras. it was late 80’s idea to address criticism of original series fed women wearing convenient low cut mini-skirts. As for describing TNG as ‘doomed’ thats like calling the original series first-run a roaring ratings success …

Makes me wonder why you even recall a twenty six year old, doomed show at all, much less why you are still talking about it. I say they ruined star trek forever even sooner in that beloved series when the opening monologue got changed slightly. Way to ruin the next three decades of trek, fellas! Burn in hell for that!

I would watch the s*** out of a Worf show. I liked how the alpha quadrant was given some depth in DS9. Picking up Worf’s story 15 years later could be really good. Have it play out like a sci fi Game of Thrones.

Gene Roddenberry once told me that he felt that next great area of exploration — and of what he thoght could be a strong basis for a new sci-fi series — would be “inner space”, as opposed to “outer space”.

Taking that into account — along with my longtime personal commitment to much of the ST genre since its early days — it seems to me that WHOEVER is to be the lead-character (or who are to be a panoply of lead-characters), while obviously important, that factor should be SUBSIDIARY to the AIM of the series and to the THEME and PLOTLINES of the series. And in that sense, my view of a “new” ST series would be that the underlying theme, throughout, should be that of the sense of ADVENTURE, INTRIGUE, AND DISCOVERY of, in combination, all that’s imaginable within the realms of INNER (i.e., mind, spirit, identity, soul, “beyond”) and OUTER space.

In my view, it should all be a voyage of discovery about, at almost every step of the way, all these things — and thus about the questions of REALITY ITSELF.

Within THAT framework, within THAT direction, Worf — and/or possibly other of the ST genre’s more interesting, memorable, characters, and/or certainly NEW characters — could easily and effectively lead us into a fresh exploration of “strange new REALMS where no human CONSCIOUSNESS has ever gone before”.

I agree star trek should move forward in bold new directions – unfortunately most people seem to want explosions and little else . DS9 is my favorite trek but it was a very distinct version of Trek . Conflict and Resolution, Tolerance and intolerance were central to DS9 rather than exploration and discovery . There was a strong spiritual subplot to DS9 but it always seemed too vague for me and the intervention of the prophets always brought things to a sudden stop. I’m not sure an explore nature of reality Trek would sustain unless it tackled religion and belief head on and how many networks would want to do that ?

maybe some time back a few years ago (if that) but not in today climate (at least not on the 5 network) like NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox or The CW but since Star Trek is own by Paramount which is a division of Viacom, what other cable network channel would be willing to air Star Trek? the only plausible network that would air and where it would be right at home would be SyFy or god forbid Spike TV or something

I think the Internet might be the next home for new Trek in the same way cable was for TNG. Not necessarily the fan based stuff – Hasnt netflix produced its own series ? perhaps if thats successful and things develop – maybe Paramount could look in that direction ( team up with Google or Apple to help with budgeting and marketing or something )

This has been an intense theme for a long time, and Q stated it much the way you did in the end of the TNG finale. It’s a fine premise, but as someone else responds to you, spirituality has been in trek before, and sadly it never really worked. As Gene once mumbled to me through a mouthful of shredded wheat, “god is not great.”! Sadly, Gene’s trek was the last to really question religion in general or specific ways. He left god out of the story, implying intentionalky that mankind had evolved away from such primitive beliefs. It was easier to put an anti-greeek-god story out than it would ever be to make an anti christianity episode, of course, and Paramount would rather make money than conocersy, so dont expect any criticism of religion to exist in the post GR stories. Since then we have shows that don’t want to get mired down in real earth faiths, and so make up there own. This is a fine idea, but then again, the Bajorans and their faith are about the dullest creations of trek lore. Voyager attempted to get spiritual in a vague new age way that was deeply insubstantial and never went anywhere. How to address this theme of inner voyage and discovery is of Paramount importance, you might say. Klingon beliefs are way more interesting, but also Worf is not a boring example of his race. He is in a prime position to discover what he really believe, and why. Which beliefs of his people does he retain, and which does he cast off? What of his human upbringing, and the beliefs he has encountered during ds9? A very unique, curious, questing mind for meaning is one plausible way to make him evolve, and to make themes of inner journeys resonate for the audience that shares his journey. The pitfall is in making many layers of ceremony and hollow dogma that makes it all alien, or worse, moving towards the structure of current earth religion. His journey must be new, and defined by beliefs we can respect if not share, but not reaching the extreme yawn zone of human belief or esoteric, non specific angry alien belief. Let’s witness and share in his spirituality as it evolves to accommodate new truths and understanding.

In terms of rewatchability, DS9 definitely stands head above the other Star Trek series, outside of TOS (you have to pay love and respect to the show that kick started the whole thing).

TNG was definitely a product of it’s time, having a meeting room to debate policy and actions. The characters and stories only really started to gel from the end of season 3 onwards. While there were a lot of great standalone episodes, the whole series basically took on the form of TOS with it’s alien/disease of the week format. I think that was what the producers were striving for; taking the essence of TOS and updating it for a new audience while paying homage to what had gone before and expanding the universe. In that respect the show was a success. The best parts of the show were usually the interactions/friendships between the crew, which were always consistently enjoyable to watch, even now with repeated viewing.

I think everyone will agree that DS9 was brilliant, but it only began to get that good with the introduction of Worf in season 4. His introduction brought in more elements to work with, giving each season more overall structure in terms of ongoing plots as consequences of past actions influence upcoming events. Like TOS and TNG before it, the character interaction on so many levels was the driving force behind the shows success, making the storytelling all the more absorbing (who didn’t feel a deep sense of loss when Jadzia Dax died?).

Voyager could have been a very different show if they had decided to take a chance and make the year of hell two-parter a season long story arc. As for Enterprise – you just knew it was going to be bad when you heard he theme song.

With that and Star Trek: Nemesis almost being the coffin nail in the franchise, i think it was a smart decision to reboot the franchise in an alternate timeline (it worked for Marvel comics with their Ultimate universe). Whether or not you like JJ Abrams and what he did with the movie, if you love Star Trek, it’s hard to see what else could have been done in order to continue the universe, especially after Enterprise flopped on tv.

While I love Worf, and the idea of a Captain Worf spinoff, I think too much time has past and there have been too many developments for it to be a success.

One idea I had that could possibly work for the franchise (as well as the Captain Worf idea), why not make a number of one-off tv movie specials each focussing on a new/different character?

I agree with the one-off tv specials because that would allow an higher budget and hopefully more development & thought put into the project.

before you consign TNG to television junkyard think about the state of television scifi before TNG ( particularly the 3rd season ) and the state of scifi tv after . eg would babylon 5 have made it to air without TNG ? .

To use a cliche i grew up watching TOS and although it was a cultural phenomenon it did little to influence sci-fi output in the years that followed. That might explain why the first Motion Picture was so different from its television roots.

I dont mind alternate universes in a ‘what if’ scenario but i suspect abrams star trek is a result of lazy plotting rather than a philosophical reflection .

One of Star Treks most endearing qualities is its sense of history . Inadvertently started in TOS episode Menagerie – an example of creative writing to solve a problem I think . Imagine if the script writers treated the events in ‘The Cage’ as simply Spock’s dream ??

I agree Captain Worf would not sustain a long term tv series – Star Trek is an ensemble and as HBO proves we care about the development ( and interplay ) of several characters – to coin a phrase – the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one

You make some thoughtful points, and a few not so thoughtful points… Yes, ds9 got better in the fourth season, but you imply that it was because of Worf, and that without them they were lost. The show had solidified and evolved substantially by then, having just made a dramatic shift in tone and quality the previous season much as TNG did. Sisko was finally captain and finally bald. The Defiant arrived, not only introducing a one of a kind ship and answering the question of what anti borg project had Sisko joined after wolf359 left him widowed, but also allowing the show to tell radically different stories. These new ship stories could easily take the form of old templates like Kirk and crew or Picard and crew, but we’re also easily adapts to new ideas and different energies. Because the series never ever picked up and left species and space behind in the space dust, we had a new format for ship bound stories. A station story might abruptly become a ship story, covering lots of ground through known territories and species and current events, on the way to all manner of payoffs, from explosive fights to simply fleeing the station for months during the war, and having no other place to think of as home. The station was retrofitted with some nice weaponry, defenses and gleaming runabouts. The promenade was made a more robust set with usable upstairs area and MANY more highly detailed alien extras and bustling activity. Avery Brooks had hit a stride and now seemed comfortable with his character. This was a great era before Worf, and without him. That being said, he was a great addition to the show, and a great excuse to tell some Klingon stories on a scale that hadn’t been attempted before. Bringing them in, ending the treaty, building threats between Cardassia and them, and ultimately creating a permanent Klingon presence on the station was all awesome and appropriate. It suited the show and it’s evolution beautifully, but that is not to say that the show was busted until then and only Worf could save it. Season three made many positive moves, and four was even better. By the time they all had on the gray shoulder uniforms from the movie it was a seriously kick-ass trek show, and the best ever I might add.

As for a deep sense of loss when Jadzia died… From one fan to another, no way did I feel that. Her character was a great idea, but that idea was mostly ignored and sidelined and squandered while we mostly got to see her as merely a cold, thirty something female with dating woes and some improbable scientific knowledge. Maybe if they had cast an old man as Kurzon Dax we would have had a plausible multi century symbiont character, but as is she was much more Jadzia then she was Dax, and that’s a big character mistake because Jadzia is not interesting, no matter who she is or isn’t dating at any given time. She isn’t quite the insult to my intelligence that seven of nine was and is, but the idea is the same. They took a great idea, and then just delivered us the young attractive model for the soap opera scenes. Knowing that the actress was the sole person not to redo her contract, and that she left ds9 to be on Ted Dansons crappy new sitcom, didn’t earn her much respect in my mind either. Plus she begged them not to kill her off! The nerve! Worst though, is that given the chance to do the character right again, to make the symbiote really matter and convince me that Dax is a seasoned, extraordinarily intelligent, multi century individual who among others things lived a long life dealing with klingons while mentoring Sisko, they doubled down on stupid and brought in an even younger, even less plausible, even more boring and unnecessary Ezri to shake up the dating scene once again. Unbelievable, and really misguided.

Finally, if you decided to write off Enterprise because you didn’t like the theme song, I can’t offer any help with that hurdle. On the other hand if you just gave up early then you and almost everyone else missed out when it became truly excellent. Most of the final season is some of the best trek ever, and deeply entrenched in relevant and fascinating lore. The Klingon revelations, the augment legacy of Khan, the Vulcan species story arc that concludes one of the most complex and compelling cultural examinations in all of trek, the return of TOS aliens/sets/sounds/uniforms, the coelescing of treaties leading to the birth of the federation, and the impending war with the romulans… That was a hell of a season. The previous season, 3, exhibited one of your favorite elements: week to week relevance and continuity, as well as multi ep stories. In fact, it was a singular event for trek, telling a 22 part story and blowing ds9 out of the water with its best strong continuity lasting in the six to ten range. Anyone who missed the last two seasons should see them, and when you realize what the show is good at y may even like the old shows more. In fact, it was the first two seasons of meandering and NOT finding crucial purpose that lost them their audience, and sadly, rightfully so. It was a lazy complacency on the part of Berman and Braga that led to the early exodus of watchers who wanted stories to matter more. I knew at the time that those were decent shows, and sometimes great, but that more was needed. The last two seasons got on track, but too little and too late for the viewers that never came back…